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Car Clubs
Colin Challen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will extend enterprise investment scheme relief to car clubs. [71503]
Dawn Primarolo: The enterprise investment scheme (EIS) provides tax relief to individuals who invest in certain unquoted, trading companies. Most trades qualify, as long as they are conducted on a commercial basis, but some are excluded, including those involving leasing or hiring. Companies whose trade involves these activities to a substantial degree do not qualify under EIS.
Car clubs are unlikely to qualify under the EIS. Many of them are organised on a not-for-profit basis and so are not trading on a commercial basis with a view to profit. And to the extent that car clubs are trading on a commercial basis with a view to profit, their trade would generally involve the leasing or hiring of vehicles.
So we would generally not expect car clubs to be qualifying companies under the EIS. Nor do we have plans to extend the scheme to provide for investment in car clubs.
Children's Trust Funds
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of families on low incomes have taken up children's trust funds. [71546]
Ed Balls: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him on 26 January 2006, Official Report, column 2253W. The next set of child trust fund statistics is due at the end of May.
Competitiveness
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the relative competitiveness of the economies of each country in the UK. [71213]
John Healey: This Government have put into place policies to make long-term sustainable improvements to the UK economy and the economies of each of the UK's constituent countries, including:
establishing a national macroeconomic framework to promote economic stability; and
devolving significant responsibilities, including aspects of economic decision-making, to each of the countries.
The ONS has published nominal gross value added of each of the four countries of the United Kingdom up until 2004. These figures show that all the countries' economies have grown strongly. Since 1997, the output per person has grown each year, on average, by between 4.4 per cent. and 4.9 per cent., as shown in the following table. Employment levels have also grown substantially in each country.
| Table 1. Countries' economic performance. | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Average annual nominal growth rate (1997-2004) | Change in employment level (1997-2005) | |
Further details of the size of each of the UK's countries and regions can be found on the Office of National Statistics website at the following address:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp? vlnk=7359
Correspondence
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will reply to my letters of 14 March and 25 April 2006 concerning constituents Mr. and Mrs. Shirley of Belper, Derbyshire, and their claim for tax credits. [71905]
Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.
Data Sharing
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recommendations the Citizen Information Project made on two-way data sharing with (a) the National Identity Register and (b) other public sector databases. [70680]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Written Statement made by my hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 18 April 2006.
The final report published by CIP on 19 April 2006 is available at www.gro.gov.uk/cip/.
Debt Collectors
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether (a) his Department or (b) its (i) executive agencies and (ii) non-departmental bodies use the services of private debt collectors. [71077]
John Healey: Neither the Treasury nor any of its agencies or non-departmental public bodies use private debt collectors. HM Revenue and Customs does have limited powers to use external bailiff companies for debt collection. HMRC currently uses these for some aspects of debt collection for indirect taxes and, in certain circumstances, for the service of legal documents.
Departmental Budget
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on advertising by his Department in each of the last three years. [70553]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Members for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) and for Monmouth (David T.C. Davies) on 6 July 2005, Official Report, column 433W. The Treasury’s spending on advertising in 2005-06 was £3,115,000; £3 million of this was the media spend (excluding VAT) within a publicity campaign running from September 2006 to March 2006 to raise awareness of Stakeholder savings and investment products.
Departmental Staff
Ms Katy Clark: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) women and (b) men are employed in the Department; what the average pay was for (i) women and (ii) men in the Department in (A) 1997 and (B) 2006; what women’s average pay is as a percentage of men’s average pay; and how many (1) women and (2) men the Department employed in each of the last five years, broken down by grade. [67782]
John Healey: The Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually statistical information on the civil service by Department. This includes data on the employment of men and women.
The average pay for Treasury staff in 1997 is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The average pay for January 2006 is shown in the following tables:
| Figures as at January 2006 | |||
| Women (£) | Men (£) | Female salary as percentage of male salary | |
| Staff in post figures for the last five years | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
| 1 April 2005 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
| 1 April 2004 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
| 1 April 2003 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
| 1 April 2002 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
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